Catching up with 1976 Olympian Teodora Ungureanu

Teodora Ungureanu is best known for leading the Romanian team to a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic games alongside her teammate and friend, Nadia Comaneci. In addition to the team silver, Teodora won a silver medal on bars and a bronze on beam. After retiring from gymnastics, Teodora married Romanian gymnast Sorin Cepoi and began coaching. They moved to the United States in 1993 and now run Dynamic Gymnastics in Westchester, New York. The duo are known for coaching former national team member Sabrina Vega who was a member of the gold medal winning Worlds team in 2011. We recently caught up with Teodora to talk about competing alongside Nadia, training with the Karolyi's, and coaching Sabrina Vega.

How did you get started in gymnastics?
Like all the kids from the block; we were doing cartwheels and walking on our hands all day long. [Even at school.] At home I was jumping and flipping on my parents bed, so my parents decided to [sign me up] at the local gymnasium to spend my energy.

What was it like competing with and against Nadia Comaneci? How was your relationship? 
When I went to Onesti where Nadia was training, we became friends right away. We trained, eat, slept, and played together; that was every day. When we started to travel for international competitions it was hard to say who was better. Nadia was a great athlete with a strong mind and body. I was a very hard worker and never gave up. Nadia, with her amazing performances at the 1976 Olympics conquered the entire gymnastics world and the eyes of the whole world. I was happy to open her way to success and was very happy with what I got.

What were the Karolyi's like inside and outside of the gym? 
In the gym, the Karolyi's were very demanding. There was no mercy for any of us, including Nadia. Outside of the gym, we had good and bad times with them.

Do you have any funny stories from your time with Marta and Bela? 
That was a long time ago, I don't recall any.

What was it like being reunited with them years later with your own gymnast, Sabrina Vega? 
That was really nice! We spent 4-5 years with them at the ranch; getting together at their house every evening and telling stories. Traveling to the international competitions was a great experience.

How did your coaching career begin? 
I started to coach at the age of 21 after I finished my 3 years of college. In 1983 we moved to France and I coached at La Grenobloise gymnastics club for 10 years before we came to America.

Can you talk about your time coaching Sabrina? What was she like as a gymnast? 
Sabrina was a very talented gymnast, a good listener and progressed very fast. In 2012, before the Olympics, she started to listen to her mother who was trying to coach her and turn her against us. She wasn't happy with us anymore and moved to another gym.

How do you think your experience as a gymnast helps with being a coach now? 
There are many young and talented coaches in the United States. My husband and I give clinics every year throughout the country and almost every month at our gym in New York. Sharing our experience is important for the future of the sport.

Catalina Ponor coached at Dynamic a few years ago. Can you talk about how that come about?
Sure. In 2010 I was visiting my parents in Romania and I was invited to the 100 year anniversary of the Romanian Federation and Catalina was there too. She was out of work for a couple of months and she asked me if I could get her at my gym for an exchange. I got her a Visa and she came for six months. She was interested in coaching. I gave her our pre-team and she was working beam with our higher levels. After the practice she was working out for herself and she was really good! I suggested for her to start training for the next Olympics and she did. I saw her [last month when I visited Romania] and she is training hard for the 2016 Olympics. What a great gymnast and motivator she is.

What is your favorite memory as a gymnast? What about as a coach? 
[As a gymnast] being an Olympian and World medalist. [As a coach] having Sabrina as a World Champion in Tokyo 2011 was very rewarding, I guess.

The sport has changed quite a bit since your time, what are your thoughts on some of the changes?  
Changing the rules in gymnastics is a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because it gives the judges easier tasks to chose the best gymnasts in the competitions. It's bad because the FIG reduced the team from five and soon to be four gymnasts on each [Olympic] team. That will be harming the gymnasts who want to catch a spot on the team. It's very competitive.